parallel lines

chapter xxxi

Natsuko just chuckled, "You asked for it."

Zuko hasn't been paying attention after the way Aang and his spirit evaded the suspicions of Chat Sing or whatever his name was. After trying to get to talk to her, he had found that she wasn't particularly vocal with her affiliation with the Avatar. The more reason he should be private when confronting her about it.

His mind wandered off to the other people with them, figuring out who might've known about her real identity of sorts. His first guess was obviously Aang since she might've been with him for the past century with him in hiding somewhere and did the vanishing party trick during the time he went to the Southern Water Tribe.

Next was probably the siblings and Toph since she had to travel with them and being their masters in the elements. Would that mean that he will be told the secret as well? Or would he still be someone who they don't trust fully? It seemed like they already did trust him to an extent.

Leave it to fate then.

It seemed like Natsuko was still continuing to tell the stories of spirits, "There are some instances of the spotting of a dragon-serpent who wanted to swallow the moon. After fighting the spirit of the ocean, it was defeated but its spirit has been long locked within the depths of the ocean, where no other beings had gone to and it's only companion was darkness. Some say it has escaped and roamed the clouds in search for a way to grab the moon from the sky."

Everyone looked at Yue's illuminating beauty and saw a flash of a dark streak pass through the clouds hiding the moon which made the hairs stand on the back of their head, "Have you heard of the night crawlers? The reason why you wake up for no reason, shows to you at the dead of night. They take you by the foot, trap your body in invisible chains, forcing you to look at them until your eyes would gauge themselves out of your sockets."

Natsuko could see them tuck their feet in their cross legged position while Teo began panicking a bit, "Aang..."

Aang perked up at the mention of his name before calling out to Natsuko. She was already suspicious of the animal's screech but continued, "You remember Koh, right? He is dubbed The Face Stealer for who he is, a spirit who takes your face whenever you give him any sorts of expression from your face. However, you might have the slightest chance of survival if you come to him stressed because he claims that "Stress makes you chewier"."

Bugs suddenly appeared from the rocks, a difficulty Momo had whilst looking for them and had begun to capture them until he hissed and came back to Aang, "There was also a father who kept calling out for his dead son, letting the Fog of Lost Souls devour his body and turn him to an owl who has forgot all things he knew of. In return, he had tried to gather all the knowledge the world has to offer him, but emotions and his son will be something he'll forget forever."

An owl screeched from somewhere which Natsuko was also surprised to hear as owls weren't usual habitants of the Air Temples, "Well, there is one last spirit who you should know and you shouldn't at the same time. He usually comes out during this time of year, when warm bloods were in heat, especially with the great comet arriving. As a precaution, it's better to stay alert and keep each other's backs and most importantly, don't tell anyone your name."

Everyone sweat dropped even if the air was chilly, it might be just a trick Natsuko was pulling off. Sokka tried to laugh it off but dropped his smile when he saw Natsuko being serious, a rare sight to everyone else. If it was anything, her warnings about the spirits should be taken seriously.

"Like you expect us to believe that." the new guy wiped a few tears from his eyes before looking at them and scoffed, "What's with you believing in spirits? It's not like a spirit is with us now."